Iron Chef Challenge : EGGS

Whole30 breakfasts tend to involve eggs (a lot of eggs, eggs all the time) and vegetables. It's not that bacon or sausage are completely out but made without added sugar makes them much more difficult to find. For only thirty days I didn't bother to order the W30 compliant bacon and I only found one brand of sausage that worked (chicken red pepper links) so really we're back to EGGS. I've taken this to new levels of personal madness, mostly because it's for Chris...a small sampling of what can be done with EGGS, leftovers, bell peppers, red onions, tomatoes and avocado. 

Tomato Omelette with Sausage and Avocado Slices

Turkey Breakfast Tacos with Omelette "Tortillas"

Eggs Baked in Avocado with Zucchini-Bell Pepper Hash

Please Enjoy ;)

Projects rarely proceed as planned

Sidetracked from my blanket by Reine's desire to have a scarf "made with love"

 

I have clarified my 

inspiration 

to keep until the project moves back up the to-do list

The challenge of being creative should not be...

...finding my crochet needles.

I have another two weeks to complete the first creative challenge. Ordinarily this would not be too much of a problem but having concurrently decided to be on a time-consuming food cleanse and reorganize my den I may have overreached. Or I can just find the crochet needles and be inspired by the cold weather to create a blanket in my lap. 

On a to do later list (due date: future) I have a vision of a perfect guest room (https://www.pinterest.com/isabelleb4/guest-room-ideas/) with a winter beach as a my palette, 

designed around a cozy, hand-crocheted striped blanket.

Step 1: Crochet a blanket

Here is the blanket in it's current state. Wish me luck!

Whole 30 and the theoretically non-compliant Pho

The gist of the Whole 30 program is to reset your physical, metabolic clock with a 30-day no sugar diet which excludes all obvious sugars, plus dairy, alcohol, beans, grains, and corn. It's similar to Paleo (but with all the reading we've been doing we are definitely not into Paleo) I love the occasional "cleanse," and Chris is always on board for food experimentation (details here if you're interested: http://whole30.com/whole30-program-rules/).

The NOs are pretty straightforward, skip forward to theYESes. (http://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-shopping-list.pdf) Fifteen days in, we are eating plenty. In fact, we're surprisingly craving free and never starving. What started out as three meals a day has settled into brunch and dinner with some grazing of fruits, nuts and baked sweet potatoes.

We've been good, we've been following the rules.

I spent two days making homemade Pho (using this recipe: http://steamykitchen.com/3136-crock-pot-pho.html), Two days of a house smelling like a Pho shop. I ran out to get fresh Thai basil and bean sprouts (just the plant part) and found these noodles made out of sweet potato starch. After 15 days I am practically made of sweet potato, which makes this perfect.

See how perfect.

But then this from a Whole30 moderator

"While the ingredient is technically compliant, I would file this under 'paleofying poor food choices' " 

Sadness ensues. Hmmm, let's call it something to consider for the future and meanwhile I will call this a rubbery version of a compliant sweet potato.

Feeling a little self righteous this morning. I think the Tiger Blood is kicking in.

Wow! It's been a while, my introverted blogging isn't very prolific.

January 2015 seems like a good time to try again, especially mid Whole30 and starting a creative challenge, More interesting posts pending.

I have a new idea (no surprise) for how to keep up with this blog that involves a rotating schedule of posts with ideas/plans, progress updates and outcomes, recipes, etc...that would have me posting something about 3 times a week. Ambitious for someone who takes two year breaks, but there you have it, always the optimist.

So...

GOALS FOR January (into mid February)~

• Successful Whole30 with Chris (a month without dairy, grains, beans, corn, sugar or alcohol)
• Project 1 of the Creative Challenge 2015
• Organize my Den
• Everything else (including first four weeks of HUMS 390 Child Welfare) all the errands, laundry, and household management items plus a few extras I'm ignoring.

1000 Cranes: Update

The origami themed baby shower came and went before I could complete my 1000 crane project but ultimately it was a perfect first birthday gift for our little Jocelyn.

The cranes are stacked in a shadow box frame (10 cranes across, 20 cranes high, 5 layers deep). In the back corner there is one unique crane with my wishes for Jocelyn from the Celestial Crane. I went completely overboard on my wishes but I think things have a way of of sorting themselves out.

One Senbazuru done, none to go.

My Philosopher's Stone

I have had a lifetime issue with financial good sense.  I’m not a complete loon; I do pay bills and prioritize electricity over shoes. However, my threshold for acceptable additions to wardrobes and collections is low and our cluttered house is proof of that.  This is the year that I’m going to change how we do things because it’s clear to me that the status quo isn’t great. We have a lot, we make a lot, and without fail we spend more than we should.

 

If you know how to spend less than you get,

you have the philosopher's stone.

~Benjamin Franklin

2013 is my Year of the Philosopher’s Stone (and if it’s my year then it is everyone else’s year too).

Why now? Because I’m sad. Because I’m tired. Because I find it impossible to be creative in a home cluttered with the accumulation of years of indulgence.  I want to paint. I want to make giant butterfly sculptures for the yard. I want to read good books. I want a kickass vegetable garden.  I want the world to be populated with stray thoughts and ideas not a new purse and dress. I want to learn more and spend less. We’re not in a hopeless pit of despair (as Reine pointed out); we are a loving family in a great house with all of our needs met so a little tweaking of our spending brain should be miraculous.

This isn’t an entirely new endeavor but here are the reasons this year will be the year we master these skills.

1)      I’ve been reading articles (a lot of articles, always a bad sign) on the connection between instant vs. delayed gratification and happiness—clearly happiness is on the side of patience.

2)      My previous foray into Weight Watchers gave me the revelation that food tracking, more activity and moderate consumption was a permanent lifestyle not a short period of miserable deprivation—this applies easily and completely to money.

3)      All the lessons learned from the past two years (meal planning, exercise, etc.) apply.

4)      Making this activity a shared one will get things done. Especially if we erase the culture of “want” with more active family time. Oxytocin is scientifically proven to be a good reward system and nothing is better for that than our style of togetherness.

5)      Free is the new mantra (the library is our friend) but also amortize. The memberships that we pay for we need to use the crap out of, Netflix be forewarned.

It is not how much we have,

but how much we enjoy,

 that makes happiness.

~ Charles Spurgeon

This for me is a year of being deliberate. The things that bring me joy can't be found in Target (no matter how lovely those things really are).